Ivory Coast-based Nyienfe Agricultural Cooperative Society of Duékoué is set to invest $10.5 million in a cocoa processing plant in collaboration with Italian partners. CEPICI, a government office which promotes the development and promotion of investments in Cote d'Ivoire, disclosed that the project entails the construction of a factory in Duékoué, located in the western part of the country. This initiative significantly contributes to Ivory Coast's cocoa sector industrialization program. The factory will have a crushing capacity of 20,000 tonnes of cocoa beans annually and is expected to produce approximately 6,000 tonnes of cocoa products. This investment aligns with the country's goal to achieve 100 percent primary processing of its annual cocoa harvest by 2030, further bolstering Ivory Coast's position in the global cocoa industry.
Ivory Coast, with an annual cocoa production of around 2 million tonnes, relies heavily on cocoa exports for its agricultural sector's earnings. The government aims to process at least 50 percent of cocoa locally, expecting to reach 49 percent of cocoa processing from October 2023 with the addition of new processing plants. Notably, a recent agreement with the UAE for a new plant in San Pedro, along with two new factories financed by China, will significantly enhance the country's cocoa processing capacity. These developments solidify Ivory Coast's position as a prominent player in the global cocoa market, aided by government policies that incentivize local cocoa processing.